20 January 2015

At dawn this morning, ISIL gunmen launched an attack on the Al-Bu-Risha area northeast of Ramadi, targeting the buildings and reception facilities belonging to Sheikh Ahmed Abu-Risha, head of the Iraqi Awakenings Council. A number of booby-trapped vehicles were used in the assault on the complex. Security and police sources are reporting that the ensuing clashes resulted in killing at least 7 of the gunmen. Other sources have reported that ISIL gunmen have seized a number of buildings in the Abu Risha compound.

To the west, ISIL gunmen attacked border areas around the Al-Waleed crossing, intending to overrun a number of army posts using booby-trapped vehicles, but security forces supported by coalition warplanes succeeded in repelling the attacks, killing a number of the gunmen and destroying a number of their vehicles.

In Al-Nukhaib in southwestern Anbar, ISIL gunmen tried to seize control of an army facility belonging to the Anbar Operations Command, but the attempt was foiled. Meanwhile, the Anbar Police commander, Gen. Kadhum Al-Fahdawi, announced that army forces supported by local police and tribal forces have taken control of the Zdariyah area in the western sector of Haditha township.

Fierce clashes and coalition airstrikes are underway in Garma, northeast of Fallujah. Anbar Operations sources are confirming that at least 37 ISIL gunmen have been killed in the action.  Meanwhile, unidentified mortar fire has struck residential districts in Garma, killing 7 residents, including 3 women, and wounding at least 23 others.

In Fallujah, a General Hospital source has announced that 3 residents have been killed and 7 wounded by the continuing indiscriminate bombardment exchanges between ISIL forces within the city and security forces around its perimeter.

In Ramadi, to-and-fro battles are continuing in the southwestern and southern sectors of the city, with ISIL gunmen attempting to re-enter the Hawz and its surrounding districts. The attempt has been foiled and 4 ISIL snipers, including a non-Iraqi Arab, were killed. ISIL forces replied with mortar fire aimed at the southern residential districts. 4 residents were wounding amid severe structural damage.

01 December 2014

ISIL gunmen have carried out attacks on a military barracks at the Al-Waleed border crossing with Syria. It is probably the last position that has not been captured by ISIL. Sixteen military personnel have been killed in the attack, including one officer. The position is part of the Rutba township that has beeen uder ISIL control for nearly six months. Iraqi and coalition aircraft have launched airstrikes on the area bordering both Syria and Jordan, targeting the gunmen's positions, with 31 gunmen reported killed.

In Ramadi, security forces announced today that ISIL gunmen have today launched a major surprise attack on three fronts: the first, in the northwestern sector, in an attempt by the gunmen to seize control of the Abu Risha area, but were repelled by tribal fighters who killed 3 of the gunmen; the second attack was on the southern sector in the Hawz district where previous clashes are still ongoing; the third attack was in the eastern sector in the areas along the Euphrates, but the security forces engaged the gunmen in fierce clashes and were able to spread their control and clear the roadside explosive devices on both banks of the river.

In Fallujah, gunfire and bombardment exchanges are continuing, with residential districts being hit indiscriminately. The city's General Hospital has reported that 4 residents have been killed and 11 wounded.

There were also clashes to the east in the areas along the boundary with Salahuddin Province. Coalition warplanes have been involved there but we do not yet have any details. The overall situation indicates an escalation by the security forces trying to recover control of those areas,

In Hit, security forces are still controlling the town's perimeter areas, while families are still evacuating the town following the previously announced intention to launch a major security operation supported by tribal forces, in order to liberate Hit town.

16 July 2014

Since last night and through the early hours of this morning, Fallujah has been hit by the fiercest ground and air assault, resulting in clashes at the city's perimeter, especially in the northern and northeastern sectors of the city. Early reports by the Fallujah General Hospital indicate that at least 17 people, including 2 women and 4 children, have been killed and 32 others wounded in those military operations, Yesterday, the shelling was directed at a number of districts, including those in the city's southern sector.

Al-Garma has also been hit by indiscriminate shelling and clashes erupted in a number of the town's districts. Casualties included 2 residents killed and 8 wounded by the shelling. Meanwhile operations are also ongoing along the banks of the Euphrates River branch and the areas separating Al-Garma and Fallujah, as well as along the Baghdad-Fallujah highway.

In Ramadi, fierce clashes are continuing in the city's western sector that is being controlled by the gunmen. Fighting and shelling is also continuing in the gunmen's efforts to take the 8th Brigade HQ, the last position that is still being held by security forces in that sector. Clashes have also spread to the city's northeastern sector along the Euphrates. In one confrontation, 7 gunmen were killed when their group attacked a military/security checkpoint.

The western towns of the governorate are still under the full control of the armed groups. Along the border with Syria, the Al-Waleed crossing point and other border regions have been bombarded.

Haditha is still being held by security, 'Awakenings', and tribal forces, but only light clashes have occurred there. In Al-Baghdadi, the ISIL gunmen have been distributing flyers advising security forces and local police that they have opened the door for 'repentance' and that the government forces should lay down their arms and join the 'Islamic State'. This was described as the final warning allowing security and police forces and civil servants to announce their 'final repentance, an offer that will expire with the end of Ramadan.

29 June 2014

The gunmen have taken control of large areas of western Anbar, but they have now stopped outside Haditha. Some tribal sources are saying that there are negotiations underway as there does not appear to be a military solution to that standoff. They are apparently trying to buy time so that the seizure can be achieved without a fight.
They have also not taken control of Hit or of Al-Baghdadi, home to the big Ayn Al-Asad Base which is still in the hands of security forces.

There are conflicting reports about who controls the Iraq side of Trebil border crossing between Iraq and Jordan. But both the local and central governments are stating that the border crossings, such as Al-Waleed, are still secure. The Trade Ministry has confirmed that 300 trucks have safely made the journey from the Jordanian border to Baghdad.

Security sources are reaffirming that Tikrit and other Salahuddin areas will be secured within 72 hours. The main effect in Anbar is related to the humanitarian situation. Many Anbaris had fled to Salahuddin and after the events there they have been making their way back, so it is the humanitarian aspect that they care about.

22 June 2014

Iraqi army units have withdrawn from the westernmost border crossing in Anbar. Syrian air force planes launched air attacks at several gunmen positions in the no-man's-land along the road between Iraq and Syria, at Al-Waleed.

Meanwhile, the towns of Ana, Rawa, and Al-Qai'm are now completely in the gunmen's hands. This morning, Rutba awoke to find that the military units there have withdrawn, leaving the gunmen in control of all the town's vital installations. Observers are now estimating that about 80% of Anbar governorate is under the control of the gunmen. However in Hit and Haditha townships, where the tribal Awakenings are active, more than 5,000 tribal fighters took part in a military parade in the townships.

In Ramadi, there have been intermittent clashes in the area around Anbar University and the western sector of the city.

In Fallujah, the city is still surrounded but gunmen who had seized control of the Al-Maftoul crossing have now removed all the concrete barricades, allowing a significant number of residents to return to their homes even though their residential districts are still being randomly shelled. The casualty figures for yesterday and up to noontime today show that at least 4 residents have been killed and 11 have been wounded by the resumption of the shelling of a number of the city's districts.

Speculation is continuing about the ability of the gunmen to seize control of the whole governorate, that would threaten imminent military operations along the administrative boundary between Anbar and Baghdad Governorate, given that the Al-Garma and Fallujah junction is no more than 60 km from the capital.

Political activity is still seeking a way out of the crisis, but it is difficult to foresee the effect of the events in Salahuddin, Mosul, Kirkuk, and Diyala, given that the gunmen are using their vehicles to maintain control of the roads in the areas between Anbar, Nineveh, and, Salahuddin.